Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, Ver. 1. _Moreover Job continued his parable_] Or, his sentence, as Tremellius rendereth it, his sententious and elegant oration, his _aureum flumen orationis,_ golden flood of grave discourse, as we may better call it, than Cicero did Aristotle's politi... [ Continue Reading ]
Oh that I were as [in] months past, as [in] the days [when] God preserved me; Ver. 2. _Oh that I were as in months past_] _O mihi praeteritos, &c._ Though Job desireth not so much to be young again (which to be Chiron and Cato are said seriously to have refused, _Secundum menses antiquitatis vel an... [ Continue Reading ]
When his candle shined upon my head, [and when] by his light I walked [through] darkness; Ver. 3. _When his candle shined upon my head_] When I was apparently blessed by him, and all went hail well with me. The sun smote me not by day nor the moon by night, Psalms 121:6, but both seemed to be made... [ Continue Reading ]
As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God [was] upon my tabernacle; Ver. 4. _As I was in the days of my youth_] _Hybernorum meorum,_ so Junius; as I was in the days of my winter quarters, when I lay and did little more than gather up mine assignations. Others render it, As I was in t... [ Continue Reading ]
When the Almighty [was] yet with me, [when] my children [were] about me; Ver. 5. _When the Almighty was yet with me_] To prosper me, and give me all that heart could wish or need require. But if that be not done, God's people are apt to think him absent. "Is the Lord among us?" say they in the wild... [ Continue Reading ]
When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; Ver. 6. _When I washed my steps with butter_] When I had of everything God's plenty, as they call it. Butter enough to have washed my feet in, had I been so proud and profuse. And oil great store, insomuch as that rivers... [ Continue Reading ]
When I went out to the gate through the city, [when] I prepared my seat in the street! Ver. 7. _When I went out to the gate_] _i.e._ To the place of judicature, called by Solomon the holy place, Ecclesiastes 8:11, because God sitteth in the midst of those gods, Psalms 82:1. The Ethiopian judges wer... [ Continue Reading ]
_The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, [and] stood up._ Ver. 8. _The young men saw me, and hid themselves_] As awed with my presence, and fearing the censure of my gravity. Valerius Maximus reporteth the like of Marcus Cato among the Romans (lib. 5, cap. 2), as being _Vir ri... [ Continue Reading ]
The princes refrained talking, and laid [their] hand on their mouth. Ver. 9. _The princes refrained talking_] Not only as acknowledging his authority, but as admiring his great eloquence, and hanging upon his lips, as the babe doth upon the breast, the bee upon the flower, or the little bird upon h... [ Continue Reading ]
The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. Ver. 10. _The nobles held their peace_] The Hebrew word for nobles signifieth such as stand in the presence of great princes; or, such as the people eyeth and referreth all things to them, _Conticuere omnes, intentiqu... [ Continue Reading ]
When the ear heard [me], then it blessed me; and when the eye saw [me], it gave witness to me: Ver. 11. _When the ear heard me, then it blessed me_] That is, it praised me, and praised God for me, as for a common blessing; so weighty were my words, and so just my sentence, not unlike that of the Ar... [ Continue Reading ]
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and [him that had] none to help him. Ver. 12. _Because I delivered the poor that cried_] Here are set forth the true causes of that great respect that was generally given Job; he was a good justicer, such as Jethro describeth, Exodus 18:2... [ Continue Reading ]
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Ver. 13. _The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me_] Such poor creatures as were destined to destruction, and seasonably delivered by my means, gave me their good words and wi... [ Continue Reading ]
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment [was] as a robe and a diadem. Ver. 14. _I put on righteousness, and it clothed me_] It was not ambition, popularity, or self-interest that put Job upon these and the following good practices and proceedings, but the care he had of discharging h... [ Continue Reading ]
I was eyes to the blind, and feet [was] I to the lame. Ver. 15. _I was eyes to the blind_] Here he saith the same in effect as before, Job 29:12,13, only he setteth it forth _Pulcherrimis allegoriis per synathroismum velut conglobatis,_ by a heap of most elegant allegories (Mercer). He meaneth here... [ Continue Reading ]
I [was] a father to the poor: and the cause [which] I knew not I searched out. Ver. 16. _I was a father to the poor_] _Ab laebionim,_ an elegant alliteration, as Mercer here noteth. Job was not only a friend to the poor, as said before, but a father, providing for their necessities, and protecting... [ Continue Reading ]
And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. Ver. 17. _And I brake the laws of the wicked_] It is a mercy to have judges, saith one, _modo audeant quae sentiunt,_ as the orator hath it (_Cic. pro Milone_); so they dare do as their consciences tell them they should do.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply [my] days as the sand. Ver. 18. _Then I said, I shall die in my nest_] Heb. I shall expire and breathe out my last, by a natural death, in my house, and amidst my people; as a bird dieth in his nest when he hath lived his utmost. _Pollicebar... [ Continue Reading ]
My root [was] spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. Ver. 19. _My root was spread out by the waters_] Heb. Opened to the waters; which therefore had free recourse to it, and much refreshed it. Hereby he describeth his flourishing condition when time was, through the per... [ Continue Reading ]
My glory [was] fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. Ver. 20. _My glory was fresh in me_] _i.e._ I had daily new accessions to mine honours; and I was herein like a bay tree, that is always green. This was also Joseph's happiness in Egypt; David's in the court of Saul; Mordecai's and Dani... [ Continue Reading ]
Unto me [men] gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. Ver. 21. _Unto me men gave ear, and waited_] _i.e._ Such a gift I had in flexanimous oratory, that my auditors were held, as it were, by the ears in great attention to my speeches; as Lucian saith of Alcibiades, and Cicero of Crass... [ Continue Reading ]
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. Ver. 22. _After my words they spake not again_] They replied not, but rested in my words, as if I had been some Doctor _Resolutus_ or rather _Irrefragabilis._ The Vulgate rendereth it, _Verbis meis addere nihil audebant,_ They da... [ Continue Reading ]
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide [as] for the latter rain. Ver. 23. _And they waited for me as for the rain_] Which in those hot countries was highly prized, and dearly longed for. _ And they opened their mouth wide_] _Stupebant, me loquente, et ore hiabant;... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 29:24 [If] I laughed on them, they believed [it] not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. Ver. 24. _If I laughed on them, they believed it not_] They took it for a great favour, and could hardly think that I would grace them so far as to smile upon them, or jest with them; which... [ Continue Reading ]
I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one [that] comforteth the mourners. Ver. 25. _I chose out their way, and sat chief_] In those days I was the only man in all matters, chosen by consent of all, to be the _prolocutor_ and advanced to the first place in all ass... [ Continue Reading ]